Global Consortium for Systems Research (GCSR) — Conference Paper 2023.11.16.01

What can systems research teach us about conducting impactful research for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

This is Part 1 of 2: see A Theory on Transdisciplinary Systems Research (Part 2)

For the full conference paper, please scroll to the bottom of this webpage

Author: Marvin Cheung (Chair, Global Consortium for Systems Research; Co-Director, Center for Global Agenda at Unbuilt Labs; United Nations Expert and Fellow) Marvin@UnbuiltLabs.com

Venue: Keynote for Frontier, PatSnap 2023 Annual Innovation Conference. PatSnap is a global leader in Innovation Intelligence and R&D Intelligence based in Singapore with a valuation of over US$1 billion after securing Series E funding in 2021.

Date: 16 November 2023

In 10 minutes, this presentation addresses some of the typical concerns with systems research from executives:
❓ How do you navigate all of the theories floating around?
❓ Why does it seem like a very roundabout way to prove something intuitive?
❓ If every piece of knowledge is important, how do you scale and conduct systems research in a team?

This is how the presentation responds to the concerns:
1️⃣ It offers a checklist of properties you can use to verify whether your work contradicts the logic of systems
2️⃣ It offers specific systems research frameworks I have used to help execs see around corners
3️⃣ It demonstrates how you can structure lines of inquiry in systems research without the loop-de-loop unreadable diagrams (hint: with a decision tree)

Abstract:

Systems research teaches us how to step back, navigate complex adaptive systems, and create options to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

This 10-minute presentation for executives assumes no prior knowledge in systems research. It will introduce four theories including (1) what is systems research, (2) properties of complex adaptive systems, (3) properties of grand challenges, and (4) common elements of systems thinking. To demonstrate systems research’s practical applications, I will present three short case studies interspersed between the theory slides. I will start with a case that is fairly relatable to the audience: the startup ecosystem, then move to on examine system-wide transformation research and climate action policy research.

The presentation is adapted from Part 1 of the author’s forthcoming publication with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Closing the Compliance Gap: System-wide Transformation Methods for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.